Features
- Reading level: Ages 9-12
- Cover Type: Paperback with 160 pages
- Published by: HarperTrophy May 3, 2005
- Written in: English
- ISBN 10 Number: 0060573589
- ISBN 13 Number: 978-0060573584
-
Book Dimensions:
7.6 x 5 x 0.2 inches
- Weighs: 2.9 ounces
From Publishers Weekly
Mitchard (author of the adult bestseller
The Deep End of the Ocean) turns out a flimsy, often sluggish novel about a mouse who is born in a piano, backstage at New York's Ballet Jolie, and who opens her eyes just as a prima ballerina performs onstage. "Prima! That is who I am. I will be the principal dancer of the Ballet Rodente," announces the mouse. She successfully debuts in the title role in "Whiskerella," performed on an overturned milk crate, yet Prima aspires to dance for human as well as mouse audiences. After her parents punish her for making a surprise appearance in a human ballet performance, the determined dancer's luck changes. She meets Kristen, nine-year-old daughter of the ballerina after whom Prima named herself (they have no trouble talking, Mitchard explains, "as all children can understand most animal languages"). Prima moves into Kristen's posh apartment, where the tiny ballerina happily performs on the stage of a puppet theater. A trip to Paris brings love for Prima, and Kristen returns to America without her. The unabashedly sentimental ending takes Kristen back to Paris to learn that Prima has gone "to the stars," yet she shepherds the mouse's daughter, another aspiring ballerina, home to New York, to raise her own mouse children in Kristen's piano. Mitchard conveys the bond between Prima and her human pal, but inane word play, coy exposition and protracted dialogue will likely turn off even balletomanes. Ages 8-up.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
From School Library Journal
Grade 3-5–A popular adult author has joined the ever-growing number of writers trying to cross over into the children's market. Disappointingly, this effort is not successful. Prima is determined to become the lead dancer in the mouse ballet and skyrocket to stardom instead of taking her time and learning the ropes. Her first sentence uttered is "I am born to dance." She even calls herself Antoinette Brown, after the great prima ballerina. Along the way she is befriended by the dancer's daughter, a stereotypical child of a celebrity who is showered with material
gifts but craves her mother's attention. Instead she finds love and acceptance with Prima. Eventually, they travel to Paris where Prima meets and marries the mouse of her dreams. The book is peppered with cutesy references to famous mice including James Tailer, Squeequido Domingo, and Fred Mousetaire. The book has long, run-on sentences, and all of the threads are neatly tied up in a pat ending. Kate DiCamillo's
The Tale of Despereaux (Candlewick, 2003) and Dick King-Smith's
The Three Terrible Trins (Knopf, 1997) are much better choices.
–Linda Zeilstra Sawyer, Skokie Public Library, IL Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
Reader Reviews
This review is from: Starring Prima! CD (Audio CD)
Jacquelyn Mitchard (The Deep End of the Ocean, The Most Wanted) joins the roster of bestselling authors who have turned their golden pens to children's literature. Ms. Mitchard also reads her first venture into young readers books with charm and wit. Prima, we learn with her first words is destined for greatness. "I as born to dance," she exults. Now, there aren't too many four legged ballerinas around, but that doesn't daunt this wee mouse. She's bent on becoming the lead dancer with the American Ballet Rodente. While Prima envisions applause, tutus, and accomplished glissades, Meowsky, an alert kitten, envisions Prima as prime rib. Will this little ball of fur thwart Prima's ambitions? Listen and see. "Starring Prima!" will be a sure hit with all elementary age girls who share the little mouse's desire to dance. - Gail Cooke
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